Local mom Regan Wong found a nifty way to repurpose the contents of that long forgotten box, tucked away in a closet, filled to the brim with broken, sometimes wrapperless crayons.

The vibrant coloring tools undoubtedly lived a life of usefulness at one point, but rather than letting them sit on a shelf reminiscing about the good old days of elementary school, or letting them rot in a landfill, Wong is turning them in to something environmentally friendly and beautiful.

Wacky Crayons takes used crayons, melts them down and, using food-grade molds, crafts new, multicolored drawing tools in various shapes and sizes.

Mike and Leah Wong, children of Wacky Crayons creator Regan Wong, lend a helping hand as they make the unconventional drawing tool in the family’s garage.Photo contributed

“We didn’t invent this, but we’re sort of perfecting it along the way,” Wong said.

Issaquah School District Golden Acorn and Outstanding Advocate Awards were recognized at a reception at Swedish/Issaquah on March 25.

Golden Acorns are presented, by a local PTA unit or council, to volunteers in recognition of their dedication and service to children and youths.

Since the beginning of the program, more than 44,000 Golden Acorns have been presented to volunteers throughout Washington state. A contribution in the name of the recipient(s) is made by the honoring PTA to the Washington State PTA Scholarship Program. From these contributions, WSPTA is able to provide grants to freshman students entering post-secondary education.

The fourth annual Issaquah Teen Poetry Slam, hosted by the Issaquah Youth Advisory Board, was held March 2 at the Issaquah Coffee Co.

Naomi Florsheim, an eighth-grader at Issaquah Middle School, won first place.

Teachers Christine Boas, from Skyline High School, and Henry Level, from Liberty High School, served as judges. They determined the first-, second- and third-place winners, who received gift cards for the Issaquah Coffee Co.

About 15 middle and high school students from Issaquah attended and participated, bringing their poetry to life.

The lewd images and messages scrawled across her daughter’s Facebook page in 2011 still burn bright in Issaquah resident Tara Cote’s memory.

In a case that made national headlines, then 12-year-old Leslie Cote was the victim of cyberbullying, as two classmates hacked into her social media page and posted altered photos, including one with “I’m a slut” superimposed on it.

Two Issaquah girls, who also used the site’s instant messaging service to act as Leslie to proposition boys for sexual acts, were charged with cyberstalking and first-degree computer trespassing.

So special, in fact, that the moment called for a new outfit. Ek arrived at Issaquah’s Baptist Church, near what is now the Darigold plant, wearing a new dress, knitted gloves and shoes specially ordered from Oregon.

City residents, of which there were only 500 at the time, arrived in droves to honor Ek and her classmates Mary and Olive Gibson.

Tiger Mountain students would go to the nearest high school

The Issaquah School District is considering a plan to close Tiger Mountain Community High School for one year while the school is moved to a different location, and then reopen the alternative school with a revamped educational model.

Issaquah Superintendent Ron Thiele spoke about the plan with school board members at a work study session prior to the board’s Feb. 12 meeting. The audience included about two dozen Tiger Mountain staff members, parents and students.

Less than 6 acres that encompasses Issaquah Middle School was annexed into the city by the City Council during its Dec. 16 meeting.

In a short presentation by city Long Range Planning Manager Trish Heinonen, she said school officials wanted the annexation because the school is about to undergo a massive restoration and officials want to do so under city regulations.

Upgrades of the school facilities are planned for 2014 through 2015. The proposed improvements include remodeling and expanding the existing school to become the new Clark Elementary School and Tiger Mountain Community High School.

The council held a public hearing the same night as the vote. No one stood in support of or against the annexation.

Officials are hoping to break ground on the new Issaquah Middle School next summer, and the replacement building will look much different than what was first envisioned.

The city of Issaquah’s 30-year plan for its central business district is expected to add more than 7,700 residential units, and it’s forcing the Issaquah School District to think more about long-term impacts to its facilities.

Steve Crawford, the district’s director of capital projects, told school board members Dec. 11 that if downtown Issaquah grows as projected in the Central Issaquah Plan in the next three decades, it would add an estimated 2,850 students to the school district’s enrollment. That represents a 15 percent increase over the district’s current population of 18,400 students.

One has to sympathize with Allen Anderson for what transpired Oct. 10.

The longtime custodian at Issaquah High School has regularly worn a camouflage-printed jacket and carried an umbrella into work. But this particular day, someone mistook his signature look for that of a mysterious gunman.

David HayesPress reporter

The high school and other nearby schools went into lockdown. When Anderson realized it was he who had caused the confusion, he told school administrators who advised him to turn himself in to the police surrounding the school.